Method for making the effective height of the teeth in a card clothing uniform



March 30, 1965 F. REITERER 3,175,251

METHOD FOR MAKING THE EFFECTIVE HEIGHT OF THE TEETH IN ARD C HING UNIFORM Fi July 1962 INVENTOR. FERDINAND REITERER his ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3 Claims. (cl. 19-114 This invention relates to the rectification of the height of the tips of the teeth in clothings on card cylinders in a carding machine and, more particularly, to a new and improved method for making the tooth heights uniform easily and quickly without any damage to the teeth.

The clothing for the card cylinder of a carding machine comprises a base member mounted on the surface of the cylinder having a large number of small outwardly projecting teeth which are generally inclined in the direction of motion of the cylinder. During the operation of the carding machine, the tips of the clothing teeth must move as closely as possible to the clothing teeth of adjacent components, such as a dotfer cylinder, but there must be no physical contact between the teeth of the two clothings. Customarily, the spacing between the tips of the teeth on the clothings of adjacent cylinders is only a few thousandths of an inch, and in order to assure effective action of all the teeth, the difference in the effective heights of the teeth should be no greater than about one thousandth of an inch, that is the radii from the axis of the carding cylinder to the tips of all the teeth should be the same within plus or minus one thousandth of an inch.

Because of unavoidable irregularities in the manufacture of the clothing, such as nonuniformities in the actual height of the teeth or the thickness of the base member, and in the mounting thereof on the card cylinder, such as deflection of the card cylinder wall, however, it is not possible to obtain the desired degree of uniformity of effective tooth height without providing some form of rectification or correction after the clothing has been mounted. Heretofore, the tooth heights have been made uniform after mounting on the card cylinder by grinding off the tips of the teeth until all the teeth have the same effective height. This process, however, almost inevitably produces burrs on some of the teeth and results in a considerable loss of hardness at the tips of the teeth. Moreover, because some teeth are ground down farther than others, there are differences in the areas of the fiat surfaces at the tips of the teeth after grinding and these differences produce nonuniformities in the resulting lap of fibers.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for making uniform the effective height of the teeth of a card clothing which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previous methods.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of the above character which accomplishes the desired result more quickly and without generating dust or grindings.

These and other objects of the invention are attained by pressing against the tips of the teeth of a clothing mounted on a card cylinder with a member having a surface located at a constant radius from the axis of the card cylinder along a substantial portion of the length of the cylinder, so as to deform the teeth having a greater effective height than other teeth in the clothing inwardly and thereby make the height uniform. Preferably, the

3,175,251 Patented Mar. 3%, I965 deforming operation is carried out by pressing a calender roller against the clothing and rotating the card cylinder, the surface of the calender roller being highly uniform and the line of contact with the clothing being at the same distance from the axis of the card cylinder along the entire length of the cylinder.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying single drawing, which is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing one form of card clothing undergoing the rectification process of the invention.

In the example of the invention shown in the drawing, a card clothing made in the form of a strip 1 comprising a base member 1a and a plurality of curved teeth 2 of the type described in the copending Reiterer United States application, Serial No. 299,101, filed .luly 11, 1962 for Teeth for a Card Clothing is wound helically onto the outer surface of a card cylinder 3. The typical cylinder, illustrated in the drawing, is of the pneumatic type having a large number of perforations 4 in its periphery permitting the passage of air to aid in the attachment and removal of a lap of fibers from the clothing. For the same purpose, the clothing 1 likewise has openings formed at the gaps between a plurality of spaced wedges 5 which project from one side surface of the strip 1, as described, for example, in the copending Reiterer United States application for Card Clothing, Serial No. 856,545, filed December 1, 1959, now U.S. Patent No. 3,136,605. It will be readily apparent. however, that other forms of clothing either in helically wound strips or removable sections, or clothing permanently aflixed to the card cylinder can be given a uniform effective tooth height in accordance with the present invention.

Similarly, although the curved pyramidal-type teeth shown in the drawing are particularly responsive to the rectifying process of the present invention. the process may be used to make the heights of many different types of teeth uniform, the only requirements being that the teeth must be inclined with respect to the base of the clothing and that they be soft enough at some point in their length, so that they may be permanently deformed under substantial pressure without danger of being broken. Preferably, the tips of the teeth are hardened and the portion below the tips are partially or completely soft. With the curved teeth illustrated in the drawings, the bending is facilitated because of the greater degree of inclination of the tips of the teeth and the curvature of the front and rear surfaces. Also, the flat tops of the teeth provide good bearing surfaces for the pressureapplying element. Nevertheless. teeth which are inclined but not curved or do not have fiat top surfaces may also be rectified in accordance with the present invention.

In the typical example of the invention shown in the drawings. the teeth 2 of the clothing are bent inwardly by a calender roller 6 mounted parallel to the axis of the card cylinder 3 and extending along the entire axial length of the clothing I. Inasmuch as the perpendicular distance between the outer surface 7 of the calender roller and the axis of the card cylinder along the line of closest proximity of the two elements is the same for every angular position of the roller, the calender roller provides the required rectifying surface of the invention.

In operation, the calender roller 6 is pressed radially against the card cylinder 3 after the clothing 1 has been mounted thereon so that the outer surface '7 at least touches the top of approximately the lowest tooth of the clothing, all of the higher teeth along the line of closest proximity of the calender roller and the card cylinder being thereby bent inwardly to the height of that tooth. With the calender roller held at the same distance from the axis of the card cylinder, the cylinder is then rotated preferably in the direction opposite to its normal motion, as indicated by the arrow, to similarly rectify the tips of all the teeth in the clothing. If desired, the bending process may be performed in several steps to avoid excessive deflection of the card cylinder surface and, in this case, the first setting of the calender roller may be just suificient to bend inwardly the highest teeth in the clothing, the subsequent settings being successively closer to the axis of the card cylinder. Moreover, if the teeth are slightly resilient, the final setting of the calender roller may be such that the tips of the teeth are forced inwardly below the desired eflFective height after which they will be restored to that height by their resilience.

It will be readily apparent from the foregoing, that the present invention enables the effective height of the teeth of a card clothing to be made uniform quickly and easily Without any loss of hardness at the tips of the teeth or formation of burrs on the teeth. Moreover, the deforming process of the present invention does not alter the shapes of the tips of the teeth as does the conventional grinding process and therefore it permits the production of a lap of fibers having a highly uniform quality. Finally, it should be noted that the process of the present invention can be used on the same clothing repeatedly to correct the effective height of teeth which have been altered during operation Without changing the characteristics of the teeth and it thereby allows the clothing to be used for a substantially longer time before replacement.

Although the invention has been described herein with reference to a specific arrangement, many modifications and variations therein will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, all such variations and modifications are included within the intended scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A method for making the effective height of the inclined teeth of a card clothing uniform comprising mounting the clothing on a card cylinder and pressing inwardly against the teeth of the clothing with a rotatable member having a surface extending at a uniform distance from the axis of the card cylinder so as to increase permanently by pressure deformation the degree of inclination of those teeth having a greater effective height than other teeth in the clothing and rotating the card cylinder.

2. A method for making the eiiective height of the inclined teeth of a card clothing uniform comprising mounting the clothing on a card cylinder, pressing inwardly against the teeth of the clothing with a member having a surface extending at a uniform distance from the axis of the card cylinder along a line parallel to the axis of the cylinder so as to increase permanently by pressure deformation the degree of inclination of the teeth along that line having a greater effective height than the other teeth in the clothing and rotating the card cylinder.

3. A method for making the effective height of the inclined teeth of a card clothing uniform comprising mounting the clothing on a card cylinder, pressing inwardly against the teeth of the clothing with a member having a surface extending at a uniform distance from the axis of the card cylinder along a line parallel to the axis of the cylinder so as to increase permanently by pressure deformation the degree of inclination of at least some of the teeth aiong that line having a greater etiective height than the other teeth in the clothing, rotating the card cylinder through at least one revolution, pressing further inwardly with the member having a surface extending at a uniform distance from the axis of the cylinder and again rotating the card cylinder.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,000,070 5/35 Flynn 140-97 2,292,411 8/42 Sutton 139-425.5 2,319,073 5/43 McElhaney 28-78 2,337,294 12/43 Cooper 29-157.3 2,586,011 2/52 Doelter 29-157.3 2,780,268 2/57 Edwards 29157.3 2,820,277 1/58 Forster 139-391 2,937,413 5/60 Hollingsworth 19-114 FOREIGN PATENTS 977,949 11/50 France. 524,554 5/31 Germany.

DGNALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner. 

1. A METHOD FOR MAKING THE EFFECTIVE HEIGHT OF THE INCLINED TEETH OF A CARD CLOTHING UNIFORM COMPRISING MOUNTING THE CLOTHING ON A CARD CYLINDER AND PRESSING INWARDLY AGAINST THE TEETH OF THE CLOTHING WITH A ROTATABLE MEMBER HAVING A SURFACE EXTENDING AT A UNIFORM DISTANCE FROM THE AXIS OF THE CARD CYLINDER SO AS TO INCREASE PERMANENTLY BY PRESSURE DEFORMATION THE DEGREE OF INCLINATION OF THOSE TEETH HAVING A GREATER EFFECTIVE HEIGHT THAN OTHER TEETH IN THE CLOTHING AND ROTATING THE CARD CYLINDER. 